Nerviosa
by BismuthKilljoy
Summary: Sakura's mother has been concerned about her weight and growing hallucinations for the past year. Now she's stuck in a house for teen with mental disorders called Konoha House with crazy teenagers and one grouchy pyro with PTSD. SASUSAKU and others.


Chapter 1: Welcome to Konoha House

"Mom, where are we going?"

The sentence rang out in the old Subaru with sharp clarity. The pink hair girl who spoke looked over to the driver hoping to get some reaction out of the blonde, but received no reply. The girl fell into silence, two could play at that game.

"Mom, where are we going?" a note of suspicion filled the girl's voice a few miles later as she started to recognize the scenery. She knew this place. She'd seen the brochure when they discussed(argued about)…_that_. Her mother turned her head away from her in shame. The girl stared at her in horror, the beginnings of tears welling in her eyes. Realization struck the girl like a baseball bat to the heart. She felt her eyes watering with the sting of her mother's betrayal.

"You wouldn't!" she questioned horrified. Her mother's green eyes stare intently at the road, hands fisted on the steering wheel, eyes tight. Her mother took a deep painful sounding breath. The girl could tell her mother was on the edge of tears.

"You need help." Came her mother's belated reply. Her voice was pained, but the girl didn't understand why. Her mother had nothing to worry about. After all, she wasn't the one who had to go away. Go away to a Psycho house. The tears spilled over the teen's green eyes. She let out a sob.

The rest of the short ride up the long winding drive was silent.

Sakura and her mother walked up the walkway toward the large mahogany double doors. Flower beds lined with beautiful multi-color blooms lined the path. The house was positively giant, a beautiful Tuscan style home with warm tan walls and marbled red and brown tiling on the roof. Wrought iron decorated the edges of the windows and a tower rose above the rest of the roofing. It was intimidatingly beautiful.

Sakura fidgeted with her baggy shirt nervously, making sure to keep her expression blank.

Her mother went up to the doors and rang the bell, And Sakura twitch slightly at h sudden sound. She could hear it echo throughout the house. It seemed as if no one was going to answer when suddenly the right side door opened revealing a pretty woman, with short black hair styled in a bob. The woman smiled sweetly, keeping the door half open.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely from inside the door frame. Sakura caught a glance at the tiled floor. It was spotlessly and unnaturally clean.

Sakura hugged herself around the waist.

Sakura's mother gave a weary smile back to the woman, "I'm here to check my daughter in."

At those words Sakura blanched. She hated those words. However, the woman's eyes sparkled with recognition.

"Oh, yes! Of course, here come in, come in!" She said opening the door widely for the two. Sakura walked into the house giving it a quick once over, before returning her gaze back to her slipper covered feet. The front doors led to a small sitting room which was decorated warmly, extending the Tuscan feel inside the house. A hallway went both left and right, further into the house. The back wall held a large set of glass doors that led to a beautiful looking courtyard; She could see that the courtyard was surrounded by the building. Sakura summarized that the house was shaped like a square with a large garden in the center. The lady started off toward the right, and Sakura and her mother followed. Sakura noted that the woman held a break-neck pace.

"You must be Ms. Haruno, yes?" the woman asked perkily extending her hand for a shake, not stopping walking.

"I am." Sakura's mother responded shaking the lady's hand firmly, offering a small smile.

"That must mean you are Sakura." The lady chirped directing her gaze to the small pink haired girl, offering a hand. Sakura ignored it staring back blankly, making sure to put enough ice in her eyes to ward any good intentions toward her off. Shizuni seemed unaffected by her cool demeanor and swiftly turned back around walking down the hallway, seemingly not at all affected by the rude gesture of refusing to shake.

Periodic windows peered into the courtyard as they walked down the hallway, and there was an occasional archway leading off to another hallway, Sakura refused to look down them to see where they led, instead choosing to glare at the floor.

Sakura's obvious enmity didn't seem to faze the woman at all, she just kept smiling like it was the best day in her life.

"My name is Shizuni, I am a staff psychologist and therapist. If you will follow me I'll show you to the great room. That's where everybody usually spends their time" She said in a cheery voice. They passed under an archway and into a large room. The first thing Sakura noticed was the large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It sparkled from sunlight that filtered through the glass wall that looked out on the courtyard. Sakura suspected the glass was reinforced, so no one could break it with and object- or themselves. Leather couches were spread about the room along with armchairs and coffee tables. A pool table was off to the right side and a small fountain ran in one corner of the room, whispering into the room. All around it was a warm environment, elegant but comfortable.

There were teens lounging around the room, some were reading, others playing cards; some were even painting at easels spread around the room. Sakura couldn't see any Adults around, which surprised her. There had to be supervisors somewhere right? All of the hospitals she had been to had a least two techs around the room at all times.

Almost all of the people in the room turned to look at her when she walked in with her mother and Ms. Shizuni. Sakura glanced around, masking her anxiety with a blank face. One of the boys, a dark haired youth with red triangles tattooed on his cheeks, wolf whistled at her entrance from one of the couches; another, a girl with two buns and big chocolate eyes, shook her head and went back to her card game with two other girls, one blonde the other with long dark hair. Only one boy didn't look at her, a dark haired one with a fair complexion who just continued to read as if in his own world. Sakura quickly lowered her gaze and moved further behind Shizuni as the eyes followed her. She was particularly unnerved by a white eyed boy with long dark hair who, to Sakura, appeared to be looking through her.

"Ino" The lady, Shizuni, called out to the room and the girl with long golden blonde hair looked up from the card game curiously eyeing Sakura. "Come here please, there is someone I'd like you to meet!" Shizuni chirped. The girl, Ino, rolled her eyes and stood dramatically, waltzing over to the group, as if she were floating on air. Sakura envied her grace and beauty immediately. Why couldn't she be like that? Inner Sakura was all too happy to give an answer. Sakura couldn't help but agree.

"Ya?" The blonde questioned in an annoyed tone. "Is this my new roommate?" Sakura noticed how breathtaking the girl's blue eyes were. Almost like the color of the water in the Caribbean Sea, which Sakura had seen many of the cruses her family was always taking.

Shizuni nodded and pulled Sakura out from behind her, with a gentle yet firm hand. Sakura shook her off and stepped out by herself. She didn't like being touched. Inner Sakura gave her opinion on the matter. Sakura ignored her to the best of her ability.

"This is Sakura. She will be joining us for a while." Shizuni said politely, smiling sweetly the whole time. Sakura refused to look at her mother. She figured, while it was not a fair treatment for what her mother had done, a cold shoulder was the only thing she could do to spite the fact that she had forced her to come here. And under the pretense they were going shopping. The shame.

The girl, Ino, looked Sakura over slowly. Sakura felt like she was being examined for slaughter. She fidgeted with her hands, a nervous habit.

"She'll do." Ino stated bluntly, nodding_. She'd do?_ What did that even mean? Sakura sent a weak glare toward the blue eyed beauty, which went completely unnoticed. Of course. Sakura sighed quietly, turning to look out the window into the courtyard. It admittedly looked really pretty, with lots of flowing plants, shady trees and green luscious grass. Sakura longed to get away from the suffocating environment and out into the courtyard.

Sakura's attention was snapped back into reality when Ino suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulling her toward a hallway. Sakura yanked her hand back, glaring at Ino. "Don't touch me." She hissed out venomously. Ino merely raised her eyebrows and shrugged after a few seconds of a staring contest.

"Whatever." She said in a bored voice, "This way is our room. We'll get you set up and then you can meet your councilor." She said strutting down a hallway. Sakura followed reluctantly, resisting the urge to look back at her mother. She heard Shizuni say something about paperwork and knew that her mother would be kept busy.

They walked passed several doors, which Sakura presumed led to other rooms, most of which were closed. Sakura resisted the will to look inside the one's whose doors were open, diligently keeping her eyes on the floor. Most of the doors had pictures or notes on them, making it easier to distinguish which was which. Some had hand painted images directly on them. Ino stopped at a door with a purple background and black flowers on it. Sakura noted that the flowers were not very well done, but appeared to be imitating real flowers.

"This is my- I mean our- room." Ino said pushing the door open. Sakura noted that there was no lock. The walls, like the door, were a purple color with more flowers. Although added to the design were several short passages of words written in what Sakura thought was French. The room wasn't too small, but I could just be the sparse decorating. There were two twin beds on opposite sides of the room and two dressers. One side of the room was obviously Ino's because there were cloths spread out on the floor, the dresser draws overflowing with multi colored shirts, skirts and all other manners of clothing, while the space under the bed was overflowing with many pairs of shoes. Nail polish and makeup products covered the dresser. There was a window with a bench on it overlooking the courtyard, just like every other room Sakura had seen. She was starting to see a trend.

"Sorry about the mess." Ino said while attempting to close one of the draws to her dresser. "So this bed is mine" Ino continued gesturing toward the bed that was unmade, "and that one is yours. We each get a dresser and laundry days are staggered throughout the week. You'll get your chore schedule when you meet your therapist." Ino talked quickly while walking around the room in a busy manner.

"The rules here are pretty simple. Don't cut, burn or force yourself to puke. You have to eat all your dinner- regardless if its tuna casserole Monday. Uhg!- doors are to be left open unless you are changing. Lights out by 10. Pills are not optional. Blah blah blah. You'll figure it out." Sakura just stared blankly at Ino. She wasn't sure what to make of Ino. She was the kind of girl Sakura would have never been friends with in the real world, but she couldn't help liking the way Ino was. She seemed real. She wasn't trying to hide who she was; she just was who she was. Sakura was both envious and awed by the trait.

After a few second of silence Sakura walked over to the window and sat on the sill, looking out into the yard. Ino looked peeved at her non-response, but quickly recovered.

"So, what is it that got you in here, huh?" Ino said flopping down on her bed. "I'm bulimic with occasional psychotic breaks. My dad had finally had enough and sent me here. Been here for little over 3 years." Ino said plainly without shame. Sakura digested the information. So Ino had an eating disorder, and had been here for 3 years. Three _years_. Sakura really hoped that Ino was an abnormality and most people didn't stay here long. Ino kept talking ignoring Sakura's lack of response.

"Oh course I get to go home for breaks and whatnot, so I guess it hasn't been three years straight, but still. So why are you here?" Ino asked pausing for Sakura reply. Sakura glared at Ino then turned to look out the window. Ino sighed and stood up walking over to Sakura reaching out and turning Sakura's shoulder so that she was forced to look at Ino. Sakura swatted Ino's hands away glaring.

Ino sighed again, "Look, I know you don't want to be here and it sucks." She said with conviction, "But you're not the only one ok? Being here sucks balls. But you aren't going to get out any faster by acting like a mopey teenager- quite the opposite in fact. You're here to get better" Ino made air quotations around the word better, Sakura smiled slightly at the gesture, "and to them that means acting like your happy-even if you're not. So stop ok? Just stop." Sakura looked into Ino's sea-blue eyes. They held nothing but sincerity. There was a moment of silence. Sakura had to admit Ino was right. That didn't stop the fact that Sakura felt like she had been betrayed. But Ino didn't mean any harm Sakura supposed she should be nice to her, after all Ino had shown her nothing but kindness.

"Do you speak French?" Sakura asked smiling slightly in an attempt to show that she wasn't going to be uncooperative.

Ino grinned, "That's better. You have a really pretty smile" Sakura froze, smile slipping. That was a lie. She wasn't pretty at all. Inner Sakura had told her as much. It was Ino that had the pretty smile. Sakura frowned and turned back to the window, looking at a blue butterfly that fluttered through the air next to the window.

Suddenly there was a knock on the frame of the door (as the doors had to be kept open at all times, something Sakura found very annoying, she liked her privacy.) Sakura turned her head to look at the intruder. It was the pretty black hair beauty from the card table. She had midnight black hair that was long a silky looking. Her eyes were white, as if she was blind.

"I-Ino?" The girl stuttered in a soft voice that matched her innocent and sweet appearance.

Ino turned and smiled brightly, "Hinata! Perfect timing!" She bounced over and grabbed Hinata's wrist and pulled her into the room, Hinata looked a little shaken by the sudden movement.

"Hinata, this is Sakura. She my new roommate!" Ino said gesturing to Sakura. Hinata gave a shy smile, a light blush covering her cheeks. "Sakura this is Hinata Hyuga. She's one of my best friends! Well she has been since she came here." Ino introduced Sakura, who stood to shake Hinata's hand. Hinata took her hand and her eyes widened.

"Your hand is so small, it looks as if it'll break if touched..." Hinata said seemingly unconsciously. Sakura immediately snatched her hand back, cradling it to her chest. Hinata blushed and muttered a quite apology. Sakura merely turned and walked back to her spot on the window seat, Not angry per-say, but generally upset over the incident for some reason. It was obvious that the Hinata girl didn't intend to be mean. It still bothered Sakura though. Why was everybody so concerned about her size? Honestly she could afford to lose a few pounds; something Inner Sakura was constantly reminding her of…among other things. Sakura cleared her mind of that thought; she had promised her mother she wouldn't listen to Inner Sakura anymore. Ino cleared her throat uncomfortably, sensing the tension in the room.

"Uh ….so, Hinata! What brings you here today?" Ino asked, attempting to dispel the thick air. Hinata looked up suddenly, previous events forgotten.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, bringing her hands to her still blushing cheeks, "I forgot! Sakura you are to report to Tsunade now." Ino nodded as if that made sense. Sakura, who had no idea who this 'Tsunade' was, cocked an eyebrow in question.

"She's the head psychiatrist here. Everyone sees her at least every other day, sometimes more depending on the severity of the case." Ino explained to Sakura. "We also have personal psychologists that we see every day." Sakura nodded and stood.

"Well, let's get this over with." She said sighing loudly, straightening her shirt.

Ino smirked knowingly, "I guess this isn't your first time being hospitalized." Sakura nodded her affirmation. She had been hospitalized a grand totally of eight times, none of which had been particularly enjoyable.

Ino's smirk grew, "Well, let me be the first to tell you that this is no Psycho ward." Sakura glanced curiously at the blonde. "This place is not like anything you will have ever experienced. Welcome to the Konoha House." Ino spun and walked out of the room with the grace of a cat. Sakura followed, trying to figure out just what this place entailed for her.


End file.
